Builds Starting over with 87 HI TEQ pickup

[Jeremy9A]

We continued through the trails in Harlan and there are some amazing views to just park, relax at, and take some pictures. A mini truck really does look "mini" next to some regular size trucks.

On the way up to the lookout point the mini developed a fuel leak but we kept heading up since we were close. I checked it out and it was one of those things you just couldn't have foreseen. Fuel was pissing out from the "O" ring that seals the injector to the fuel rail. The newfangled fuel injection had failed me. I can guarantee 100% that my carburetor wouldn't leak at an injector "O" ring! We were heading out to Windrock park the next morning anyways so the truck went on the trailer. Time to relax.

 

[Jeremy9A]

We left Harlan, KY and headed toward Oliver Springs, TN for Windrock park. I managed to find an autozone on the way there and picked up 2 sets of injector O rings and an intake gasket set. It was raining when we arrived at Windrock so that seemed like a good time to change out the injector O rings. I had brought a 8' patio umbrella on this trip mainly for the sun beating down on us while we are stopped for a while recovering on trails or to use on those hot sunny mornings. I made a mount in the bed to hold the umbrella from a piece of 1-3/4" tube. Turns out the umbrella pole fits perfectly in there. In this case the umbrella pole sat nicely in between the bumper tube and truck providing plenty of rain shelter along with the hood to work on the truck. This umbrella is coming on every trip from now on.
The injector O rings were swapped out without any problems and the mini truck was once again ready to go. We were only able to get a few days of trails in at Windrock and the weather held out for some good times. There was a huge storm that rolled in the last night with winds hitting around 50MPH. We waited it out in the truck since I was concerned about getting crushed by a tree in our tent- that would suck. I didn't get many pictures and usually just leave my phone/camera in the glovebox on these trips.

 

[Manhattan]

Great pics! Makes me want to be out there!!!

 

[Jeremy9A]

I was pretty happy with how well the truck worked considering it was something I threw together in the garage. There was one main issue that I kept thinking about- tires. The 35"s were a really good deal and worked good enough. But I couldn't air down too low without beadlocks, and therefor I would sometimes fall off my line or just couldn't grab onto rocks with the side of the tires. Basically I was running a cheaper tire at a pressure higher than I wanted ( about 8 PSI).

I was reluctant to drop the money on a set of beadlocks and new tires all at once. I considered buying 15" beadlock wheels and keeping the current tires, or buying new 15" tires and switching to beadlocks later on. I was mentioning this to a friend over our weekly dinner and drinks and said I was gonna buy 37" pitbulls during a 50% off sale. He goes "if they're that cheap I'll buy new ones right now and you can buy my old ones". So thats exactly what happened.

I started the painful and never ending process of finding the right wheels. Black rhino makes some decent looking wheels but the hub bore tapers in and will not allow for manual hubs (confirmed over the phone with them). Battleborn makes some decent looking steel wheels. Method was my favorite but it bothered me that they sell the wheel I want in a different back spacing for way less than the one I needed. Why would the price skyrocket for a difference of less than 2" of backspacing? I finally settled on the 17X9.5" Pro Comp Trilogy 75 series that a friend recommended to me in the first place. I ended up finding the best pricing and friendly customer service at BBWheelsonline.com Their regular price with free shipping was cheaper than the big stores "buy 3 get one" price.

So eventually new wheel day arrived

I went over to a friends house to remove his old tires, put them on my wheels, and put his new tires on his wheels. Naturally that required friends from out of town and a group of people hanging around making drinks. It turned into an all day party that lasted into the AM as a new wheel/tire day should!

We eventually got the "new to me" tires onto the new wheels and bolted them up. Time for the obligatory flexing pictures. And the truck was going to require a little more trimming for these ones.

It really is a huge difference in bite with these tires. I can stay on my line, grip rocks and climb with the side of the tire, and run around 4 PSI without fear of breaking a bead. I actually killed the engine plenty of times since they keep biting where I was so used to the others just slipping. Probably time for gears?